


Kunō no Merodī

by Hawkflight



Series: Accomplice: Rise [3]
Category: Persona 4
Genre: Blindfolds, Canon-Typical Violence, Elemental Magic, F/M, Fights, Kidnapping, Panic, Strip Tease, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2017-01-13
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:56:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7966861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkflight/pseuds/Hawkflight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Her mouth was split open, golden eyes sparkling.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. [Stimulant]

**Author's Note:**

> If you didn't know already Part 3 is going to be on the short side. It's only going to have five chapters, and they'll be on the short side, because of reasons. Basically it's word count will be less than Part 2 in entirety. This also means it should be updated quicker, though.
> 
> The other good news: is I don't even know where to begin to figure out the chapter count for Part 4, so you can expect that - whatever I'll call it - to be pretty long until we get to Part 5, which should also be pretty long. So far Part 5 is the final 'part' in the series, unless something causes my plans to change. After that I'll put out the three seperate endings: the Bad End, the Good End, and the True End; in that order.

Her head hurt.

The relentless pounding at the back of her skull was really hard to ignore, even if it seemed to be lessening as time went by. It was certainly the first thing she noticed when she became aware of her own body and surroundings again, no longer in some fuzzy inky blackness.

Really, that's what it had felt like, even asleep she hadn't been able to dream. Not with the back of her head hurting like it was, that is. Or her shoulder for that matter.

Now that she was coming out of unconsciousness she became aware of that as well; the way her whole right shoulder felt like it had been set on fire; _twice_. She could feel the bruise forming no matter which was she tried to adjust her body so that she wasn't putting so much weight on that shoulder.

The floor was cold, so she could only guess that she had fallen off the bed. A plausible reason for her pounding skull and flaming shoulder by all accounts, really.

_Really._

If she had gone to bed just a few hours ago she would believe it within a heartbeat, but it all came racing back at her as soon as she began to think about it. She had been in the storage unit next to the kitchen, not her room, answering a call only to have someone sneak up on her, shove something that smelled like ethanol into her mouth... and then her head was pounding, her shoulder on fire, trapped in darkness.

No, that didn't seem quite right. She just needed to open her eyes-

Her blood plummeted below zero when her lashes fluttered against a piece of fabric when she opened her eyes, only to see _nothing_. A shiver traveled through her entire body. No... _no_ , she had to try again.

But when Rise just closed her eyes she could feel her lashes rub against the fabric _again_ , and now that she knew it was there she could feel how the fabric was wrapped all the way around her head, presumably tied into a knot at the end.

Her fingers shook as she began to raise her hands only to have them lock up on her. Because her hands were _behind_ her, one folded over the other, fingers pointed downwards, curled in. Even if her arms could raise higher, there was no way for her hands to reach the knot. She could feel the cord tied around her wrists as well now; that wasn't a flimsy piece of fabric. It wouldn't just rip if she pulled hard enough.

Another shiver ran through her body, only this time it stayed with her for a few seconds after the initial chill came.

Her fingers continued to shake even when the rest of her body was frozen in place. Rise was taking in small quick breaths of air now, her heart hammering away in her chest each time she felt the warm air of her breath press to her skin every other second. The same smooth fabric pressed over her eyes was also present over her mouth, not necessarily sealing it shut, but it stretched far enough that when she parted her lips she could feel it dip into the curve her mouth made. It wasn't tight, but it was secure enough to serve a purpose.

One that didn't include getting snagged in her teeth.

Rise swallowed, _slowly_ , trying to keep her breathing even as she tested her vocal chords. Her ears weren't covered, so she could hear her attempt with perfect clarity.

"Mffph."

And this time her body didn't stop shaking, even if she wanted to she couldn't make it stop. There was just no way. _No way_. None at all. This was a bad dream. This _had_ to be a nightmare. This just couldn't be happening.

She sucked in a breath through her teeth. _It isn't real._ Her lashes felt heavy as they pressed against the fabric, _again_. Not real. The skin around her mouth was no longer warm, but _hot_ ; even more so than her shoulder. Her fingers stretched out only to connect with cold tile. As for her legs...

" _Hrn!_ "

She could move them just fine! There was no restraints on her legs. No fabric locking them together, no cord wrapped around her ankles or along her thighs, just above her knees. There... wasn't a single thing on them. That, seemed like an oversight by whoever had done this to her. Unless they weren't worried about her walking around...

Rise's whole body shook for five agonizing seconds before she curled her free legs inward, until her forehead could rest against her knees. She tried to take a breath, but stopped when she felt the fabric tighten over her mouth when she sucked the air down so quickly.

It wasn't an oversight; it couldn't be. Not with the way her hands were bound, made blind and unable to cry for help. Even if she did get up and walk around she would just run into things she couldn't see, and there was no guarantee that the door would be unlocked. Who would leave a door unlocked after kidnapping an idol? Not someone that used a cord to bind one's hands, she was pretty sure of that.

Her body was shaking again, but this time it wasn't stopping as she felt even her skin go cold, her veins made of pure ice.

She held herself still for one whole second before she screamed through the fabric over her mouth, her warm breath hitting her thighs. If they were really made of ice steam would have covered her body; that was now squirming over the tile: legs kicking at the air around them, arms pulling at the binds, back arching only to snap back into place a moment later.

Rise was in an endless cycle of irrational movement, up until she heard something besides her own skin and clothing sliding over the tile.

Then her body froze, breath halted as a pair of shoes _squeaked_ against the tile with every step. And the sound was getting louder, getting _closer_. Her body shook, legs slowly sliding back up so her knees met her forehead.

Now what? After all these hours of lying here had her kidnapper finally gotten bored? Or had he been taping her freak out the entire time? Because it made him _excited_? Or was she being filmed? The feed hopping through a bunch of proxies before coming onto the screens of similarly minded people? She couldn't believe her - true - fans would just sit there, seeing her struggle and not do a thing about it.

The footsteps had stopped behind her and a whimper escaped her throat as she heard a rustle of clothes as the man must have crouched down behind her. There was a _snip_ in the air, followed by another, and suddenly the strips of fabric loosened, laying flat on her skin and hair.

It only caused her heart to speed up, though. If she was being untied they must have grown bored, and she had no idea why they had taken her yet. Just that she wasn't dead, and it was too soon to know if that was a blessing or not.

Her hands were wrenched back and she _yelped_ ; the sound clear and filling the room this time. It echoed back at her and she tried to pull her hands back when the length of her arms protested the angle at which they were being held. A hiss escaped her when they were pulled further up. The cord seemed to shift along her skin before she heard a _snap_ and suddenly it sprang free, uncurling from her wrists to hit the underside of her arms.

Those shoes squeaked against the tile again as clothes rustled once more and Rise forced herself to stay still: arms hanging behind her, breath shifting the loose fabric laying haphazardly across her mouth. It was like she was made of stone as she listened to the footsteps head back the way they had come, before it became silent again.

It remained that way for a second, and then the creak of a door assaulted her ears. Not that she could remember hearing a door before.

Was this room soundproofed?

The sound had come from in front of her this time and Rise raised her head past her knees before she opened her eyes; that expanded into the size of saucers a moment later. _She_ was standing in the doorway, in that bikini, standing the way she did, swaying from side-to-side, mouth split open into a grin, golden eyes sparkling.

She must have been hit over the head again, or this really was a nightmare. Whether that was true or not didn't concern her though, as she  _screamed_.


	2. [Snuff Soul]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's take a poll. I've been thinking about writing a small 'interlude' between parts 2 and 3 on just what happened in that small missing time frame. If you would like to have it written down just say so, if enough of you are interested in it I'll do it.

"Ugh." The girl's lips curled down even while she screamed, but it didn't make the image in front of her any less terrifying. Even without that sick smile, those eyes still glowed like a yokai in old folklore. The eyes rolled seconds later, in a complete over the top fashion before her teeth were bared. "That's enough!" she shouted, silencing Rise's screams.

Even her voice...even her voice sounded demonic. Like hers, but deeper, less human.

"Aw." The... _thing_ seemed to calm back down quickly enough. "That's better." ...why did the way it speak sound so suggestive? And it was doing it with _her_ face, her voice, her body - yes, there were differences, but the similarities...

This _had_ to be a nightmare. But then, why hadn't she woken up yet? Why was she still here? Where was here? She had been kidnapped, right? Did they give her something to make her hallucinate this creature in front of her? Just _what_ was going on?

She was back to 'smiling' now. "Are you starting to understand, _me_?" As impossible as it seemed her blood grew even colder. " _Hm?_ Are you going to give me anything else besides your screams? You know your fans want something more _spicy_ , don't you?" Her body went so still it _hurt_ , but she couldn't force any of her limbs to move, even after her arms had been freed. "If you're going to start screaming again put some more emotion into it. So they can hear _you_."

It felt like there was a lump in her throat, a stone that refused to budge. "Wha-" she managed to squeak out, staring at this monstrosity in front of her.

"Yes?" The other her raised a brow, then grinned, leaning down so that her boobs _bounced_ in the thin fabric of her suit. "What is it?"

Her eyes widened at seeing the girl in front of her: hands resting on her knees, leaning forward, making no attempt to hide her cleavage. She was intentionally making all her movements sexual; like what the producers asked of her when they were filming commercials, especially with that one for Quelorie Magic.

Rise shoved herself up from the floor, as if she just remembered that she _could_ move. She only got as far as sitting up before she began shouting, "No! No! No!" as loud as she could. This... this was unreal. All of it. This place, wherever it was... how she got here, everything... It was all moving so fast! She couldn't make sense of anything anymore. Especially _this_.

"Huh?" She actually took a step back, staring back at Rise as if she were the crazy one. Then her lips were drawn up into a pout when she spoke, "Don't tell me you think this is all a dream? How immature can you get?"

Somehow a hiccup slipped past her lips. "A dream. A bad dream," she muttered, raising her hands to cover her ears all the while. To block out anything else that was happening around her. It was all fake, right? So it couldn't touch her, _right?_ Rise drew in a breath, teeth chattering as her whole body shook.

She could still see it however, drawing itself up to a standing position, walking back and forth in front of her, tapping her finger against her chin. When she caught Rise watching her - an imitation - she slipped her finger up to dip into her mouth, closed her eyes, and made a loud sucking sound.

That did it.

Rise shot up to her feet, hands balled up into fists at her sides. "You're just Risette! You were just an image created for the public! You're not real!" A shiver ran up and down her spine at the thought that she could be. Her eyes felt hot, like molten lava that was about to overflow. "You _can't_ be real."

She removed the finger from her mouth with a _pop_ , licking her lips a moment later. " _We_ are Risette. When did you forget that?"

A dull ring sounded from the speakers in the room, the hallway; she could hear it even though the door has been closed. Nothing made sense here.

The other girl grinned. "It's time!" she sing-songed, whirling to face the door and push it open. She paused in the doorway, throwing her head back to look at Rise and giving her a wink. "Cheer for us." And then she was gone.

Rise nearly collapsed, feeling as if she had just run a marathon, but forced herself to stay standing. There was no way this freakish nightmare was going to end there. She wished she was wrong, really, but the moment a tv in the room flickered on she felt her heart sink.

The previously black screen showed another room, just as pink and purple as hers, but with bright lips pressed to the curtains; the very ones that parted to reveal that girl."Maru-Q! Push Risette!" She jumped toward the camera, arms drawn in toward her body to push her breasts up even more as they jiggled in their small confines. "Good evening, good evening! I'm Rise Kujikawa! This spring, one young girl levels up to become a high-school idol. Yaaayyyyy!" This time her jump sent her to a standing position. "So today I'm going to celebrate by pushing the limits of Standards and Practices!" With a twirl she showed off every inch of her skin that wasn't covered. "Does everyone know what time it is? Show time!"

Rise stared at the screen. Just... just what the hell was this? An uncharacteristic low laugh escaped her lips. Seriously?

"Show what, huh? Hmhmhm..." She was sliding the straps to her top down as she spoke, but then she suddenly raised her hands, snapping them back against her skin, keeping the top secure after teasing the camera. "E-very-thing!" She giggled profusely at her reveal.

Her legs finally gave away on her, no longer allowing her to remain standing. What strength she had managed to gather was gone now.

"Eee! How embarrassing!" She clasped her hands to her cheeks that weren't tinted red, feigning the very emotion she spoke of. "Is this too hot for TV?" She plucked at the strings of her bikini bottoms next. "Well, if a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing it all the way! I'm gonna bare it all for you! Heehee! Stay tuned!"


	3. [Dokudami Tea]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More in-game dialogue coming your way! It's just that good. And sorry for the wait. I'm planning to have Kunō no Merodī finished by the end of the month.

The girl was laughing as she twirled around the pole, glancing back to Rise every once and awhile as if she were waiting for something to happen. What that could be... she couldn't even begin to fathom. Mostly because she couldn't even think about it, just stare up at the fake her - Risette continuing to put on a show.

She was on the middle of the stage, but there was no one else in the room. So... it's not like there was actually a crowd for her to perform for. No, Rise had accepted awhile back that Risette wasn't putting on a show for anyone but her now. Beyond that one incident of the TV coming on in the room she had woken up in, Risette hadn't made any other grand entrances, though a few times it seemed like she was shouting into the microphone _at_ someone. Multiple people maybe, but Rise still didn't _see_ anyone.

Why wasn't she waking up yet? Why did this nightmare just seem to stretch on for days? She even felt hungry in a way, a rather hollow way. Her stomach didn't growl or anything, it just felt empty. But she hadn't been able to shut her eyes either, and when Risette had come back into her room and then shot off; she had ran after her, following her to where she was now.

On the edge of a stage, on her knees, staring up at the image of her that had been plastered all over TV. Risette continuously shouting that she was going to bare it all to the empty room of spectators. This had been the final clue that the only one she - the demon - was going to bare it all for was Rise herself.

It was crazy, insane. And she was so _tired_ , so wanting for it to be over that she couldn't even stand up any longer. She just continued to sit there, hoping it would all be over soon.

Finally - it felt so long - Risette stopped her twirling, standing in front of the pole, legs spread and just looked at her. Her lips were curled down, disappointed perhaps, but it's not like Rise _knew_ what she wanted. What she was expecting. How was she suppose to know anything? She still didn't even know how she had gotten here, where here was; any of it. So what could she do?

" _Stop_." The word was more of a whisper than anything else, as if spoken by a ghost.

Risette giggled, pushing back against the pole and grinding her hips, as if requesting Rise to keep going. To start yelling at her again. Was that it? Was that what she wanted? But why-

The doors slammed open and another girl's voice filled the room, "There it is!"

"Look, the real one's here too!" A more familiar voice sounded in the air. Male. But she couldn't recall who it belonged to. Surely not someone she had known for very long.

There were more than two pairs of footsteps moving closer though; one even squeaked, like a window wiper. Risette turned her head to look at whoever it was and began laughing again. "Aaahahahahaha!" She grinned, golden eyes sparkling. "They're all watching! All eyes are on me now!"

No... had she actually been waiting for spectators? People other than her? Had she gotten it wrong? Was she... what was going to happen? "Stop it!" she cried out, wanting to throw her hands over her ears once more to block out anything that might be said. But her arms weren't listening to her body's commands. The only thing she could do was squeeze her eyes shut.

"Awwww! What's the matter? You wanna show your stuff, don'tcha? How's this?" And her eyes opened once again, as if against her will to see Risette spin half-way around the pole, leg curled just behind it, gyrating the air.

"Please... stop this." She didn't want to see anymore of this... thing looking like her, acting this way... it was too much. Too much!

Risette only chuckled at her distress. "Ooh, she wants me to stop. That's _so_ funny!" Her expression of amusement quickly changed to one of disgust. "As if that's even close to what you're really thinking, you little skank! You're me! And obviously, I'm you!"

"No... that's not true." She would never do this. This thing wasn't her, and she wasn't _it_. A pin-up image of a girl in a bikini, being objectified in every way. A girl that belonged to everyone just to fill their desires, and never filling her own.

"Ahahahahah! C'mon, look! You can't tear your eyes away! This is _me_! This is who I really am! Not Risette, _the fake celebrity_! Look at the girl _right in front of you_! I'm sick of being some airhead cliche who _chokes down everything_ she's fed and takes it all with a smile! 'Risette?' Who the hell is she? There's no such person in this world! I'm no one but myself! C'mon, _look at me!_ "

She nearly choked on the air. "That's not- I..." she gasped, trying to keep her tears back; from breaking down right on this stage.

"Well then, I guess it's time to prove it. I'm gonna _show it all off_! Let my naked truth be burned into your brains!"

Somehow she managed to stand up. She couldn't allow this to go on. She couldn't- "Stop... Stop it! You're..."

"No! Don't say it!" That girl shouted.

"You're... _not me!_ "

For a moment the fake was still, and then she began laughing, moving against the pole as she did so. "Heehee, ahaha! Aaahahahahaha! Here it comes! Now, I'm finally _myself_!"

The air around her was getting dark, like some inky blackness - the shadows themselves - had detached from the corners of the room as they raced around the girl, sparks of red igniting where it came into contact with her body. And then the world exploded, and her own vision went black.

"Tch... Here we go!" She could still hear voices in the vicinity as she clinged to consciousness.

"I am a shadow." The _thing_ was still talking. "The true self. And now, the moment you've been waiting for! It's time for me to show you every last inch of myself! Heehee... And for our guests in the front row... I'll give you extra-special, extra- _intense_ service!"

"Looks like she had issues of her own after all..." Was that... what had been his name? Yosuke? "But we'll stop her from going berserk!"

"Oooh? You're going to rush the stage? What an ill-mannered guest! Maybe you're looking for an experience that's a little more intense?"

She could have sworn she heard the crackle of lightning, the sparks of flame, a rush of wind, ice cracking... a hundred fists striking at air.

"Ahahaha! Enjoying yourself? I've got a ways to go until I show my true self... You ain't seen nothin' yet! Feast your eyes!" A roar of flames followed the Shadow's words.

There were more sounds of a fight ensuing from the center stage. The sounds of someone falling down to push themselves back up, shouting an odd twist of words at the top of their lungs as if their life depended on it. On something answering their call for a storm.

"What? I dealt all that exquisite pain and you're still not satisfied? What a finicky guest... You might as well die, then! _Aaaahhh_!" An odd sound filled her ears, like fingers scattering over a keyboard. "No touching allowed. Ahaha!"

A crystal shattered, but the shards didn't connect with the ground. It was getting quieter... like group of people weren't attacking as fiercely as before. It sounded like they weren't even trying to do anything other than dodge the Shadow's attacks.

"I can see everything about you... Ahaha!"

"What's the deal!? Our attacks aren't making a dent!" That girl that had shouted at her before was yelling now.

"Damn, it's like it's anticipating our every move..." Yosuke seemed to be voicing the same frustration they were all feeling.

"I-I'm completely useless..." Another voice, one she didn't recognize from outside the tofu shop.

That odd technological sound filled her ears again.

"What the-!?"

"That power... I think it's scanning us! Ohh, this is not good!"

"When you say 'not good,' what exactly does that mean!?" Kanji snapped.

" _Woohoo!_ Analysis complete! Okay, here comes my counterattack! See if you can dodge, hmm?"

"S-Stop it!"

A loud explosion filled her ears, a blinding light piercing through her eyelids.

"You gotta be kidding..." Yosuke muttered, clearly out of breath.

"Oogh. How're we supposed to win?" That girl was groaning in pain from whatever the Shadow had unleashed on them.

"A-are we... going to die?" Another girl spoke.

"No! You guys can't die!" That oddly cartoonish voice from before spoke up again. "What can I do? Sensei..."

"It's up to you." 'Sensei' must have responded.

"There must be something... Something I can do... Am I going to be all alone again? No! That's not what I want!"

"Shit! It's winding up again!" Kanji...

"I... I..."

"Okie dokie, here we go again! Good bye... _forever_!"

"Aw shit... It's coming!" Yosuke.

"M-My body's moving on its own!" Odd little squeaks filled her ears at this announcement. "Wh-Why am I stepping forward!? Wh-Whoaaa! I-I feel like I'm going bear-serk! Grrrrr! I-I'll do it! Take a good look... at Teddie's last stand!"

"Huh!? This high-energy reading... Is it coming from that weird thing!?"

"Teddie! What the hell are you doing!?" Kanji shouted.

" _Roaaaaaaaaawr_!"

"Teddie!"

Another explosion went off, her body went numb...


	4. [Sedative]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because it's in my head on permanent repeat from watching these scenes a million times: "Stop grinding the pole while you murder us!" - Nicob, 2014

"Teddie!" The shout barely reached her ears as sound began to filter back through them again. "You idiot... You coulda died..." She was having trouble telling who was talking, if it was even the same person or not. If she even knew them.

Rise was so tired, her body felt like it was developing bruises everywhere and she had just been laying here. In her own field of darkness. If it wasn't for the stage beneath her she would think she was spinning, but even knowing she wasn't the sensation didn't go away.

"Did I... Did I help?"

"You didn't just help, you saved our lives!"

"Neat! I'm so glad... I didn't want to be alone anymore."

"Teddie."

"Ngh... Urgh. Wh-what in the world!? _Nooo_! My fine, silky fur... I was so proud of it! Waaaah!"

"Looks like he's going to be just fine... I guess."

Something, beating like a drum almost... surrounding her. "Rise-chan!" An unfamiliar female voice came through the fog in her head.

She forced herself to lay her palms flat on the stage, to stop the endless spinning so she could sit up, eyes closed tightly as she did so. "Mm. Where... am I?" It was the first question she had upon being here, so it was the first thing to escape her lips. Then her mind started to work again, slowly... and she opened her eyes to see those kids that had been standing outside of her shop before she arrived here. "I'm sorry... It's all my fault." They had almost died because of her...they had saved her.

"You can let go now." The boy with grey hair said, one of the three that had entered the shop before.

"Huh?" Let go... "Yeah," she said with a soft sigh. She understood now - somewhat - what had been going on here. Even if she still didn't understand a large chunk of what was going on... she now knew this was all real. She had just been avoiding that truth for awhile now. With the hell it had appeared to be when she first came here. She let out a soft laugh. "Haha... When was the last time someone said that to me?"

Thinking about it... she didn't really want to. Rise pushed herself up from the floor, standing on legs that were shaking a bit from the effort of keeping her up. How long had she been here? Hm... perhaps she should save the questions for later. There was something else she needed to take care of first.

She remembered the sound of someone hitting the floor behind her and Rise turned around to face the look-alike, still in the gold bikini, but currently on the ground rather than taunting her. Rise knelt down, offering a hand to this... Shadow. "Here." The Shadow glanced up before taking her hand without uttering so much as a syllable in complaint. "Stand up."

With a little effort she helped her up.

"I'm sorry... You must've been in a lot of pain up to now. You're part of me, but I kept refusing to admit you existed... I was trying to figure out who the real me was. But I realize now that I was on the wrong track. There is no 'real' me. It just doesn't exist."

"There's no... real me?" A voice behind her asked.

"You, me, even Risette. They were all born from me. All of them are... me."

The Shadow gave a nod of her head, apparently satisfied with this outcome. Even though she had been so focused on killing everyone just a few minutes ago. She disappeared in a blue light, something else entirely taking her place. It looked like a woman, a very tall woman in a white gown with pieces of gold, her 'skin' a metallic black. She was holding some sort of bowl and... there was a thing coming out of her head that looked similar to a satellite dish.

_Himiko._

It disappeared just as quickly as it came, instead taking on the form of a card made of light, which seemed to dissolve into her chest. With it she felt better, but it didn't do anything to cease her exhaustion. Almost as soon as she turned to face the group her legs collapsed on her.

"Rise-chan!" Yosuke knelt down next to her, holding her up so she wouldn't hit the ground. "Careful!"

She raised her head back up to look at him rather than the pink and grey tile. "I'm all right... Hey, you're the one who came to the store, right?"

"Oh, yeah. And these guys came with me." He gave a nod in the direction of the others.

"I'm Yu Narukami." Gray hair said.

"And I'm Chie Satonaka." A girl with a bright green and yellow jacket said with a bright smile.

"My name is Yukiko Amagi." Another girl in a red shirt, wearing the same skirt uniform as the other girl supplied her own name.

Her gaze traveled to the last student. "Huh? Uh... Kanji Tatsumi. We met before." Yosuke shot him a look as if to say, 'really?'

She giggled. "I thought I recognized you guys. Thanks, everyone."

"We'll explain everything later," Chie began. "But for right now-" Chie stopped mid-sentence to turn around.

"What's wrong, Chie?" Yukiko asked.

They all turned around to see what Chie was looking at and Rise finally noticed the odd bear creature behind them. His entire form flat and thin as paper with the way he waved in the air. Whatever it was... this creature looked like a cartoon that got hit by a bulldozer, partly due to it's red, white, blue, and yellow outfit.

"There's... no real me?" It repeated.

Kanji took a few steps forward. "H-hey, Teddie..."

Teddie? Was that it's name? She remembered that being shouted during their fight, and it looked like there was burn marks all over the bear's clothing. What did he do... explode?

She had barely asked herself the question when she felt something off about this Teddie. No, not him... exactly, but something inside him. "No!" she shouted when Kanji looked like he was going to take another step towards Teddie. "Get back! Something's coming out of him!"

"Real? Me?" A demonic voice filled the air, much lower in tone than Teddie's voice. It chuckled. "Such foolishness."

Her eyes went wide when she saw the creature's shadow expand behind him, taking on corporeal form. And it was more than twice the size of the Teddie standing in front of her, with huge golden eyes. This thing was very different from her own Shadow. It... it was wrong, somehow this all felt very wrong to her. The way it had come out wasn't natural... not that she remembered how hers had come out of her, but-

"What is that thing!?" Yosuke assumed a battle stance like everybody else.

"D-don't tell me... Is that the other Teddie? Teddie's hidden thoughts!?" Chie asked, staring at it.

"I believe so," she agreed. "But it seems like there's more... I felt some powerful presence intervene."

"Wha-What's going on!?" The real Teddie screamed... somehow. Seriously, how was he still standing and moving... not to mention speaking. What was Teddie? Not her enemy, clearly that would be the Shadow behind him. He just looked so... out of this world. Paper-Teddie glanced from side-to-side moving his body in the process before turning around to find what everyone else was looking at. " _Wh-Whoaa_!"

"The truth is unattainable." Shadow Teddie said in a rather almost diplomatic fashion, with his hands clasped behind his back. "It will always be shrouded in fog. Though you reach through the murk and gloom to grasp something, you have no means to know it is the truth. In which case, why? What sense is there in yearning for truth? Close your eyes. Lie to yourself. Live in blissful ignorance. It is a much smarter way to exist."

"Wh-what're you talking about!? I don't understand a word you're saying!" It was odd... her Shadow had sought to merely attack _her_ before all of them intervened. This shadow seemed to be mocking everyone, not just Teddie. "You're just making it sound difficult because I'm not that smart! How rude! Maybe you can't tell, but I'm thinking as hard as I can!"

"It is those efforts that I am calling useless. You are hollow. Empty. At your core, you know this... You just cannot accept it. So you seek an alternate form; a denial of your nature. You have no lost memories. If you have forgotten anything, it is this truth."

"Th-that's... a lie." Teddie stepped back, his feet making an odd squeaky sound when he did. So those distinct footsteps she heard before had been his?

"Shall I spell it out for you? You are but a mere-"

"I said shaddup!" Teddie threw himself at the Shadow. Of course, being Paper-Teddie he didn't do much of anything other than bounce off and crumple on the ground in layers of 'paper' as it were.

"Teddie!" Yukiko shouted upon seeing this.

"It is the same for you all. You undergo suffering because of your search for the truth. This world is filled with thick, heavy fog. How can you find something when you know not what you search for?"

"There's a way to find it." Yu replied to the Shadow.

"And thus, you invite more suffering upon yourselves... It is beyond my comprehension. Then I will grant you one truth. _You will all die here_." She was certain of it now. This Shadow was being influenced by an outside force. "You sought the truth, only to find death."

"Dammit." Yosuke was visibly grimacing at facing such an opponent. "How are we suppose to fight something like this without Teddie?"

"It's all right. Get ready, everyone."

Chie was the first to respond to her words. "Hey, don't tell me you're fighting with us! You can't take it!"

"I'm okay," Rise assured her. If focused on the battle ahead she was sure she could continue standing; it was only after that worried her. "I should be able to take that bear's place! It's my turn to save you all!"


End file.
